DVD Hacker Asks Compensation in Acquittal
Tuesday, 27 January 2004 22:16 EST
A Norwegian man who became a hacker hero for cracking security codes on Hollywood DVDs wants police to compensate him now that he's been acquitted twice of computer piracy, his lawyer said Tuesday. Jon Lech Johansen, 20, also known as DVD Jon, was 15 when he developed a program to watch movies on a Linux-based computer without DVD-viewing software. He posted the codes on the Internet in 1999 and became a folk hero among computer hackers.
Norway's economic crime police charged him under data break-in laws, demanding a suspended jail sentence, confiscation of equipment and fines.
However, Norwegian courts twice ruled that Johansen could not be convicted of breaking into DVDs he bought legally, nor could he be punished for providing a tool - such as a computer program - that others might use for illegal acts.
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